It's rather fortunate that Wolverine isn't content to let his mutant comrades drag him down. While the X-Men franchise as a whole continues to struggle, Wolverine is doing comparatively well for himself. Mark Millar's Wolverine arc is a favorite of ours, at least when it comes out. And though reviews are mixed on the "Original Sin" crossover in Origins and X-Men: Legacy, it's certainly a big deal for the character. And don't forget that we have both a movie and a new Wolverine-centric animated series to look forward to next year.

We we're psyched about Thor last month, mainly due to his arrival in the pages of Secret Invasion. Unfortunately, he follows more of a "speak softly and carry a big hammer" philosophy in that book. Luckily, a new issue of Thor's ongoing series hits stands tomorrow, and it's as good as ever. We're a bit perplexed at Marvel's decision to re-number the series, but we're too busy staring at the gorgeous cover to issue #600 to really care.

Is anyone else a bit worried for ol' Shellhead? He's already out of one ongoing series as Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. transforms into War Machine. Some believe the signs point towards Secret Invasion ending badly for Tony Stark. That may be the case, but that could be very good for the readers. Assuming Tony doesn't kick the bucket at the end of SI, we're looking forward to reading the further adventures of Iron Man as relayed by Matt Fraction. And regardless of what happens in the comics, we've got our shiny new Iron Man DVDs to watch over and over again.

For a character who has lurked on the periphery of the X-books for so long, Magneto's prospects are looking surprisingly bright. Greg Pak's Magneto Testament bowled us over in the office, with both issues so far ranking among the best of the year. Assuming Marvel Studios ever goes ahead with its long-rumored Magneto movie, we know where they should look for inspiration. On the Ultimate side of things, Magneto has claimed the mighty Mjolnir for himself and looks poised to bring the planet to its knees in Ultimatum.

Darkseid may have given a thumbs down to the eternal triumph of the human spirit, but we give him a solid thumbs up in return. After months of waiting, Grant Morrison finally crowned Darkseid as the ruler of a broken Earth at the end of Final Crisis #4. Hopefully this means the former ruler of Apokolips is ready to take on a starring role for the next three issues. The Justifiers can only keep our heroes busy for so long.

This isn't the first time this year that we've felt Joker deserved a spot in the rankings separate from his nemesis Batman. Earlier, our decision centered around Joker's role in The Dark Knight. While we're excited for the upcoming DVD release, this time a comic was the motivating factor. Two comics, in fact. Joker has taken on a central role in Batman R.I.P. Beyond that, we recently had the chance to review the graphic novel Joker and found it to be one of the best stories to ever feature the character. And yes, that includes The Killing Joke.

Captain America seems to be everywhere these days, and that includes both Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes. The former stars in Captain America: White and the Captain America: Theater of War one-shots. The latter continues to stand strong in Ed Brubaker's Captain America, and he's put in perfunctory appearance in Secret Invasion as well. And, finally, both Captains meet up again in the pages of Avengers/Invaders. Steve even leaves his mark in the pages of Thor, as issue #11 sees the God of Thunder deal with his friend's death. Our patriotism is swelling.

If you enjoy your Lanterns in many hues, you're in luck this month. Final Crisis: Rage of the Red Lanterns sees the newest Corps officially inducted into the DCU. And that's hardly the end of the colorful fun. Expect just about every Corps to rise to prominence in the coming months. Blackest Night is still a looming threat, but the War of Light is beginning to rage all around us.

Had everything gone according to schedule, we'd be telling you to head to your local shop tomorrow for the final chapter of Batman RIP. It appears we'll have to wait a few more weeks, unfortunately. Still, issue #680 was one of Grant Morrison's strongest, and we have every hope that the finale will live up to the massive hype. The next few months are going to redefine the Caped Crusader, thanks to the efforts of writers like Denny O'Neil, Neil Gaiman, and Kevin Smith, so don't make the mistake of missing out.

As usual, it's Superman's world, and we're just living in it. Superman continues to soar above the rest, even as All-Star Superman made its final bow last month. October brought about the finale of the "Brainiac" arc in Action Comics, an event that even sparked interest in the news media. Soon after, "New Krypton" kicked off with the arrival of 100,000 Kryptonians on Earth. Between corralling his new neighbors and accompanying his fellow Supermen across the multiverse in Superman Beyond, the Man of Steel is going to have a busy few months. But they wouldn't call him Superman if he wasn't good at multi-tasking.